About Me

Born and raised Scotland and travelled extensively. Duke of Caledon Argylle in exile, Earl of Primbroke, Knight of the White Lion, Colonel of the Caledon Militia (ret).
Traveller and explorer, sometime musical presenter and flying enthusiast.
Now living in New Babbage with his beloved wife Christine. Owner and tailor of quality gentlemen's outfitter Pearse'd & Cut

Wednesday, 7 January 2009

I was rather shocked today to read the announcement that Mayor Sprocket has decided to part with New Babbage.

From his official announcement:It has been an exciting and challenging time running a city-state for the past 2 years. I see entirely why George Washington set the 2 year term limit in motion within the United States. After two years you feel exhausted in a way that's practically impossible to describe. Even the will to log in seems to not be there for me. I want new challenges, I want to move on. Also I think New Babbage deserves better than my absence. It's time for a new mayor.

Sadly, it's not as easy as hosting an election. New Babbage is an asset. It is profitable. And it is indeed worth something. It would also be a thoughtless act to simply sell to the highest bidder. Everyone here deserves more than that. I want to sell to someone who has vision, someone who will not only maintain what we have, but strive to grow and evolve it further. We have a unique situation.

Currently, a brand new (and vacant as a desert) sim costs someone $1000 USD to purchase and $295 USD per month to keep. New Babbage is 6 sims of thriving community and active renters, and to use an analogy, an appartment full of renters is worth more than an empty building. I am willing to sell New Babbage to someone for $6,000.00 USD, However there are some strings attached. I want the people of New Babbage to approve you.

I'd like to publicly commend Mayor Sprocket on the work he has done. We've had our disagreements in the past but never to the point where we refused to talk or work together. Knowing some of the crap that is forwarded to the Guvnah and my dear Brother-In-Law I can imagine how hard running a community of sims would be.

It's been interesting watching New Babbage grow from a group of steampunk enthusiasts content to stay in their workshops and do their own thing, to a community interacting and organising events. New Babbage has slowly moved towards more role-play over theme. As one of the facets of the never-ending debate of "what is steampunk" it will be interesting to see it's future.